Legal and ethical aspects of Generalized Allied Health and Community Services provision
Order Instructions:
write an essay that focuses on the legal and ethical aspects of generalized Allied Health and Community Services provision, using practical examples wherever possible.
Consider the following in your essay:
- Principles and practices for upholding the rights of the client, including children and young people
- Principles and practices of confidentiality
- Principles of access and equity relevant to provision of community services
- Principles of ethical decision-making
(1500 words)
SAMPLE ANSWER
Introduction
The allied healthcare workforce remains an essential element in the healthcare fraternity since the demand for these services increase immensely with the ageing of the population, an increase in emphasis on multidisciplinary delivery care and the increasing burden of chronic diseases. Allied health professionals include dietitians, physical therapists, radiographers, occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists (Aliakbari, Hammad, Bahrami, & Aein, 2015). It is, therefore, essential to note that allied health professionals are healthcare workers equipped with formal education on clinical matters and are credentialed through licensure, certification and registration. These health practitioners are therefore expected to deliver high-quality patient care services that are geared towards identifying, preventing, and treating diseases, disorders and disabilities.
On the other hand, the law and ethics plays a fundamental role since they ensure that workers are committed towards practicing positive values. The workforce is also guided by the law and ethics in ensuring that they abide by the standards that have been enacted. Ethics refers to the values and belief systems within the allied healthcare workforce since they entail the regulations that are put in place to ensure the society is prevented from harms and that they can live healthy lifestyles (Aliakbari, et.al). Ethics has the capacity to promote training and education since it assists individuals to develop their skills to compete and to achieve the response to moral actions. Metaethics, which entails moral judgments and decision-making process, involves a critical and analytical thinking on considering what is good, right, or ethical within the practice. This paper, therefore, seeks to identify the ethical aspects of the generalized Allied Health and Community Service in the provision of health care service to a community.
Legal and Ethical Aspects of Generalized Allied Health and Community Services Provision
It is essential to note that ethics has the ability to guide the standards of moral judgment and professional development. The allied healthcare workforces are expected to remain accountable to patients, employees, public, and the entire profession. This, therefore, requires that the allied health care providers have a solid understanding of the legal and ethical proponents they face in their fields of practice (Castro-Atwater, & Hohnbaum, 2015). Allied Health Care Practitioners, therefore, have the responsibility to ensure that adequate care to all patients, ensure that confidentiality is maintained including autonomy.
With this, it is essential to note that in this professional practice, there are times when legal duties may be breached during practice. The ever changing values in the healthcare sector, the society, and behaviors in science typically point out to the need that allied medical practitioners are equipped with the ethical and legal issues and learn how to appropriately respond to such situations.
Legal Aspects of Generalized Health
Within legal frameworks, it is essential to mention that there are statutory laws that are defined within the healthcare fraternity that includes some jurisdictions. For instance, in the USA, there are some states that allow an individual to employ the services of an attorney of welfare in making medical treatment decisions in the case the person becomes incompetent (Castro-Atwater, & Hohnbaum, 2015). This clearly indicates that every individual has the right to decide on matters health in their own lives without any interference. They also have the right to choose a suitable medical treatment method that suits them and is consensual.
Case law also remains another element in monitoring the ethical standards of allied health care professional within the medical profession. As a result of this, several instances have been heard particularly of patients refusing to undertake medical treatments, and the use of embryos that are frozen for IVF. In some states, nobody has the right to consent treatment for an incompetent adult, a factor that forces the courts to make declarations mainly for the interests of patients including the overall medical practice (Drake, & Drake, 2010). It is, therefore, essential to note that nurses need sound understanding associated with the legal and ethical principles in order to make appropriate judgments that are in line with the law. This can be best understood through the implementation of stringent education and teaching procedures before practicing in Allied Health and Community Services Provision to ensure that the practitioners apply the required principles in health care and ethics.
Ethics;
Ethics according to sources are the philosophies that determine the right and wrong as related to an individual’s actions and decisions. However if this is applied in a Generalized Allied Health and Community Services Provision Program, it has the capacity to compete with other realities such as the increase in responsibilities, and time constraints that are put upon the allied healthcare professionals (Drake, & Drake, 2010). It is essential to note that the manner in which individuals interpret ethics like beliefs, and morals. It is also vital to mention that ethics remains a general concern that is implied by the laws and standards of practice.
One major ethical issue that stands out in practice is confidentiality. In this, there has been a considerable amount of worry in providing services to the society particularly when it comes to the divulgence of patient’s information (Huff, & Furchert, 2014). Maintaining and protecting patient’s privacy and confidential information remains a matter that is covered by the law and is governed by the regulatory body of the health fraternity. It is, therefore, important to patients are given the freedom to make their decisions in regards to confidentiality and are allowed to consider who to share the information with efficiently.
Principles and Practices of Confidentiality
A patient’s right to privacy remains a paramount factor that is enshrined in the Protection Act, and additionally it is a Human Right Act. Confidentiality, therefore, requires an individual to respect a person’s right to privacy. It is also essential that respect to human relationships is adhered to in sharing personal information (Huff, & Furchert, 2014). Allied medical practitioners are also required to appreciate the importance of maintaining confidentiality to the society and individuals.
It is, therefore, essential that allied medical health professionals maintain physical and administrative functions that ensure confidential information is protected against unauthorized access. There should be proper structures placed towards ensuring that individuals are informed how their health information is used and disclosed and that they have access to information as well (Noriega, & Drew, 2013). A written authorization from the patients should also be provided that ensures that information is disclosed for required purposes.
Principles of Access and Equity
Given the essence of these principles, to provide quality health care to the community, there are several responsibilities and laws that need to be adhered to substantially. The actions that are required to be observed include allowing every person to access allied health care regardless of their origin, sex, disability, language, birth, culture and sexual orientation (Noriega, & Drew, 2013). The allied health care facilities also have the obligation of ensuring that services are delivered and developed on the basis of fairness on the patients. Efforts should also be made that ensure factors such as disability, religion, race, gender, cultural background, or even sexual orientation do not lead to the unequal treatment of patients seeking care.
Principles of Ethical Decision-Making
In the field of practice, allied healthcare professionals are bound to encounter several ethical issues. An ethical dilemma remains one of the complex situations that emerge from the conflicts that arise between complying with the moral obligations (Suk Bong, Ullah, & Won Jun, 2015). Nurses are therefore required to conduct ethical and decision-making processes required in directing moral actions in situations.
This, therefore, requires practitioners to involve the use of moral components such as the basis, claim, evidence, warrant, rebuttal and ethical decision making in order to resolve conflicts efficiently. Allied healthcare professionals are at all times required to promote the independence of patients by respecting their informed decisions concerning their care.
Conclusion
The allied healthcare workforce remains an essential element in the healthcare fraternity since the demand for these services increase immensely with the ageing of the population, an increase in emphasis on multidisciplinary delivery care and the increasing burden of chronic diseases. These health practitioners are therefore expected to deliver high-quality patient care services that are geared towards identifying, preventing, and treating diseases, disorders and disabilities. In order to achieve this, the allied healthcare workforces are expected to remain accountable to patients, employees, public, and the entire profession. This, therefore, requires that allied health care providers consider both the legal and ethical issues that revolve around the provision of quality health services to the community.
The legal aspects require that legal frameworks are permanently adhered to in practice. It is, therefore, essential to note that nurses need sound understanding associated with the legal and ethical principles in order to make appropriate judgments that are in line with the law. On the other hand, ethics requires that the allied health care facilities maintain the required ethical standards in practice. It is, therefore, necessary to note that the manner in which individuals interpret ethics like beliefs, and morals. In addition to this, ethics should remain a universal concept that is governed by the law and regulate the standards of practice. These factors, therefore, remain indispensable in providing quality healthcare services to the community by the allied healthcare providers.
References
Aliakbari, F., Hammad, K., Bahrami, M., & Aein, F. (2015). Ethical and legal challenges associated with disaster nursing. Nursing Ethics, 22(4), 493-503. https://www.doi:10.1177/0969733014534877
Castro-Atwater, S. A., & Hohnbaum, A. H. (2015). A Conceptual Framework Of “Top 5” Ethical Lessons For The Helping Professions. Education,135(3), 271-278.
Drake, B. H., & Drake, E. (2010). Ethical and Legal Aspects of Managing Corporate Cultures. California Management Review, 30(2), 107-123.
Huff, C., & Furchert, A. (2014). Computing Ethics Toward a Pedagogy of Ethical Practice. Communications Of The ACM,57(7), 25-27. https://www.doi:10.1145/2618103
Noriega, P., & Drew, M. T. (2013). Ethical Leadership and Dilemmas in the Workplace. Consortium Journal Of Hospitality & Tourism, 18(2), 34-48
Suk Bong, C., Ullah, S. E., & Won Jun, K. (2015). Ethical Leadership And Followers’ Attitudes Toward Corporate Social Responsibility: The Role Of Perceived Ethical Work Climate. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 43(3), 353-365. https://www.doi:10.2224/sbp.2015.43.3.353
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